Dragondancer
by Dragonsight Elli
Summary: Ever wonder what dragons on Pern think about? Here's a Pern fanfic told from the dragon's perspective!
1. Chapter 1 - Rehab Postponed

_**Chapter 1 – Rehab Postponed**_

_I itch._

The complaint, so often delivered from my mind to my rider's, reverberated through her dream and woke her up.

"Oh, Chlori," she groans as she rolls over and tries to go back to sleep, but I insist, as I always do, and she reluctantly sits up in bed.

"Where did I put the oil pot?" she asks no one in particular.

Gyarmath's rider jerks awake, in a cold sweat, screaming at the top of his lungs. Elli is torn between G'narish, Gyarmath's rider, and me.

_My hind leg really itches_, I say again.

"Narish, it's all over," my rider comforts her mate. "You just had a nightmare. It's okay. Help me oil Chlorith. Her hind leg really itches."

_Please hurry!_ I cry. _It itches so badly!_

"I'm coming, dear heart," says Elli. "Come on, Narish. I need you to help me."

She really doesn't need him to help her. She just wants to dispel the miasma of nightmare from his and Gyarmath's minds.

I don't remember what triggered their nightmares. Neither does Gyarmath. He just has nightmares because G'narish has them. The dragon usually dreams what the rider dreams, but sometimes our dreams are different.

Elli got the oil pot, dipped her hand in, and started oiling me. Her fire-lizards, queen Elizabeth and queen Marie-Antoinette, dip their claws into the oil pot and dig them into me, helping Elli along. G'narish stands there, dazed and confused. I don't know what's causing the confusion, but Elli does. She pauses in her oiling to put a comforting arm around him.

"I'm right here, honey," She says to him. "It's okay to let it out. There's only us and our dragons here. Nobody's coming."

He turns to her and weeps hard and long. The nightmare must have been really bad this time. Elli's dreams were pleasant last night, and I can't blame her for wanting to finish it. It was a child's fantasy dream I didn't understand but it pleased her and got her adrenaline pumping.

_I want to dance_, I tell my rider. _When can we dance?_

"As soon as we get done oiling you and I shower," she replies.

I grumble. Showering always takes her such a long time.

_I'm all oiled now, and G'narish is calmer. Gyarmath wants to dance with me._

Elli rushed to finish her shower, then we lift off into the air and begin our aerial acrobatics. None of us have a care in the world. We dance together until we get hot, then we dive into the sea to swim with the dolphins. Dolphins can hear dragons because of their sonar. They know all about medical issues, and they inform Elli that she's once more with child.

"I thought I was going through menopause," Elli complains.

G'narish breaks down yet again, but these are happy tears. Gyarmath croons encouragement to his rider as he embraces mine.

"Twins again?" Elli asks wryly.

"Three babies!" the dolphin cries. "Three squeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee three babies!"

"What gender?" G'narish asks through his tears.

"Male!" squees the dolphin. I think her name is Natua. "Three boys!"

We fly straight back to Honshu. G'narish is still weeping, but he smiles through his tears.

"That means we have seven children together," Elli says as we land.

_I can't dance anymore,_ I whine.

"You can dance, my golden heart," Elli comforts me. "Just not with me on your back. This will be a high-risk pregnancy. I don't know of any documented case of surviving triplets on Pern. They're rare enough on Earth, especially identical triplets. Oh, Shards!" she exclaims. "I didn't ask if they were identical!"

Now it's her turn to whine.

"Don't they have that new sound machine that takes pictures inside the body?" asks G'narish.

"The ultrasound?" Elli responds, recalling the word. "Yeah, they have developed that in all the Healer Halls on Pern. We'll just have to go to the closest one and make sure everything's alright with the babies. How the shards am I going to take care of three babies? I had a hard enough time with the twins!"

_Your mother will help_, I reassured her.

"Mom's 75 years old," Elli retorted. "She's too old to take care of children."

_Not necessarily_, I tell her. _Taking care of children is her life_.

Elli acquiesces.

"Manora's here, too," G'narish offers. "She relocated here when Golanth was wounded."

"Golanth doesn't need her anymore," my rider sighs, only now realizing she had plenty of help at hand, "so she could always help me with the children. She always helps me with Oriana's fractiousness and Ariana's asthma. They really need to develop an inhaler for her! Her attacks are getting worse every day!"

"Let's hope that one of the triplets doesn't have it," G'narish fervently prays.

As we walk up the ramp into our weyr, Elli puts her arm around G'narish, and I cover Gyarmath with my wing. Toric's recent death has gone right out of their minds, and they don't worry about anything. That is as it should be for an older couple retiring from service. I am still quite young, so they try to accommodate that. But Elli's 46 turns old, and G'narish is 60. They are still younger than F'lar and Lessa, but G'narish's PTSD has really taken hold of him, and he cannot lead a Weyr like that. Gyarmath goes berserk every time G'narish does, so he is no help trying to get his rider back to reality. Fortunately, he hears me too, so if Elli isn't around, I can touch his mind and calm him down the way she does when I'm upset. Honshu Weyrhold is our new home, and we love it here. There are already ready-made weyrs here, so no one had to construct any.

I lay in my wallow and close my eyes, hoping to sleep after spending the morning dancing and swimming, but Zareth hurts, and I remember I have to do therapy with her so she can recover. I reluctantly get up and fly over to her weyr. I take her wing in my foreclaws and do what the humans call massage. Then I use my brain power to manipulate the wing. Zareth cries out in pain, but I persist.

_It will hurt at first_, I tell her gently, _but it will hurt less and less the more you practice. I promise it'll get better, but you have to push yourself_.

_I cannot move it!_ Zareth complains. _I think I broke it trying to get away from Carth._

Lemme see, I tell her, manipulating the wing with my foreclaws once more. _You may be right. It hangs at an odd angle._

I bugle loudly for Manora, but it's Elli who responds, swinging her cane in an erratic orbit as she runs.

"What's wrong, my heart?" she cries, throwing her arm around my neck.

_Zareth's wing is broken_, I reply, _and nobody noticed it_.

Elli checks Zareth's wing more closely.

"That was most likely deliberate," she mutters, her anger rising, "as Eliana was trying to finish Seska's 'noble work'."

_Understandable_, I comment, as Elli often does, _but shouldn't Manora have noticed something?_

"Yes, she should've," Elli says fervently. "I'll go get her. I was just eating breakfast with her. I know exactly where she is unless she left the table already."

When Manora arrives, she examines the wing very carefully.

"Yes, it's definitely broken," she says. "We have to reset it before Zareth can have any more therapy."

I am disappointed by the delay, but I understand. Zareth must be able to move her wing without the use of her brainpower in order for me to manipulate it. If only I could do surgery. Then I could reset the bones myself. But my foreclaws are only good for holding things in place or massaging body parts, not cutting people open or resetting bones. I sigh heavily. I stand back and let Manora do her job.


	2. Chapter 2 - Loss Of A Beloved Oldtimer

_**Chapter 2 – Loss Of A Beloved Oldtimer**_

I am dancing. I am always dancing! If I am not dancing, I am sleeping or healing someone. I am hungry, so I dance over to the Feeding Grounds. Even when I hunt, I dance.

I am about to bring down a big wherry buck when I have a disturbing vision. Tiroth being flamed down by an unfamiliar bronze dragon? That cannot be! What dragon would deliberately flame down another dragon? Tiroth and his rider were on sweep at Cove Hold and the dragon had appeared out of nowhere and flamed them down. They are no more. Forgetting about eating, I fly back to my weyr and begin to keen.

"Chlorith, my precious love, what on Pern is the matter?"

Elli runs to me and encircles my head with her arms.

_Tiroth is no more!_ I silently lament, keening all the while. _I wish I could weep like a human. It would release the anguish and grief I am feeling._

"Oh, honey!" Elli weeps, tightening her hug. "How did it happen? D'ram was in vigorous health. He wasn't ill at all, at least not to my knowledge."

_They were flamed down by an unfamiliar bronze dragon as they did sweeps around Cove Hold_, I sob mentally, my keening continuing unabated.

"I'm sure it was an accident, Chlori," she reassures me. "No dragon would harm a human being willingly. Carth was unwilling when Seska forced her to flame down Calentia."

_It was deliberate,_ I wail. _The dragon was convinced that D'ram was a bad person. His rider brainwashed him to believe all of us are bad. We are abominations!_

"And I thought we got rid of all the Abominators a month ago!" Elli sobbed, fiercely clinging to me. "After Toric was killed and Kashman exiled, they sort of lost their touch. I never thought a dragonrider could become an Abominator."

_His name is Denorth_, I tell her, _and his rider is D'lan. He is of Benden!_

"Dear God," Elli gasped, pulling back to stare at me. "Are you certain?"

_I don't like him. He killed my mentor! Oh, let me weep in your arms awhile!_

"Oh, you great golden silly," Elli spoke, renewing her hug, a tiny giggle escaping her as she tried to inject some humor into the situation. "Dragons can't weep."

_You always say you see something when you can't_, I say. _Same difference._

"Okay, you win," Elli relents, tightening her hug. "Go ahead and cry. I'll hold you till you're better. I love you."

I keen myself to sleep with my head cradled on her shoulder. When I wake again, G'narish is standing by Elli's side, his tears running silently down his face.

"Gyarmath says he was flamed down by a young bronze," G'narish whispers, hoping not to disturb me.

I lift my head slightly so he knows I'm awake. Elli shakes her shoulder a little to ease the tension in it.

"Chlorith says his name is Denorth," Elli informed him, her expression pained and sad. "And his rider is D'lan of Benden. I don't know how she knows this stuff. I'd expect her to know the name of the dragon but not the rider. She says D'lan has brainwashed Denorth into thinking that we're bad people and must be killed. D'lan saw D'ram on sweep and had Denorth flame him down instantly. Apparently, they died right away."

I begin to cry again. Elli takes my head in her arms.

_I'll never dance again,_ I sob. _He was my mentor, what you humans would call a father figure._

"I didn't know dragons had parental figures," Elli says, rocking my head back-and-forth.

She doesn't cry when someone dies. She is always the strong one.

"D'ram was so much to all of us," she says. "I do have a few tapes of him, and I believe Raeana took some pictures, so I'll have something to remember him by. I'd be glad to share my tapes as long as I get them back. I let someone borrow a tape of my grandpa singing lullabies, and I never got it back."

"On Earth?" G'narish asks.

Elli nods. "I had another tape of him, but I lost it somewhere. That was on Earth, too. I have a whole bevy of tapes of you and Tiffany, but I have no way of recording Chlorith."

_The Smith is trying to develop a recorder with sonar capabilities so that telepathic conversations, dreams, and other brain waves can be recorded on tape,_ I say, still keening.

"What the hell are you talking about?" Elli demands, her expression puzzled as she pulls back to stare at me.

_He's heard of the dolphins' abilities and wants to replicate them,_ I reply. _That's what your father says. I listen to him all the time. He is a smart man. He's always talking to the Smith._

"That's true," Elli had to admit, "and I always dreamt of a tape recorder or DVR that could record dreams. I just didn't know how to go about inventing one."

"Lessa and F'lar need to know about this D'lan." G'narish says, diverting the conversation back to the subject at hand. "If one of their riders is an Abominator, they need to know what's going on with him. If he is prepared to flame down other dragonriders, we might be in the same crisis we were in 16 Turns ago when the Oldtimers stole Ramoth's queen egg."

"I wasn't there for that," Elli says regretfully. "I could've helped you through the stress of that."

By this time, my keening has stopped, but I'm still telepathically sobbing my heart out.

"There, there, darling," Elli comforts the both of us. "It'll be okay. We'll make sure nothing happens to you."

"How many guys is he going to recruit, huh?" G'narish demands, pounding his right fist into his left palm. "How many riders are going to be coerced into following him?"

"Not many, sweetheart, not many," Elli reassures him lightheartedly. "No one in their right mind is going to follow that gent if they're from Benden. I guarantee it! If I'm wrong, you can flame me down!"

"That's not funny!" G'narish yells.

"I know it's not," Elli says contritely. "I wasn't trying to be funny. I was trying to reassure you that it's okay. D'ram and Tiroth's deaths were tragic, but they'll be the only ones to die. No one else will suffer the way they did. I guarantee it!"

Elli gives my head another hug before releasing me to give G'narish a reassuring hug. But he is not comforted. I can tell by the fear and anger in his eyes.

"Chlorith, be a dear and contact Lessa and Brekke," Elli suggests. "Tell them to report to Honshu so we can talk about this. Either that, or we can go to Benden. As a matter of fact, that might be better. Let's all go to Benden and assess the situation from there. We could even call D'lan in to answer for his crime. What he did to D'ram and Tiroth was far more heinous than what Danala did to Nadira. It ties Seska's crime. I'm sorry, Narish. I know you don't like me mentioning her name, but her crime compares well with D'lan's."

"I forgive you… this time," G'narish replies, the fear and anger vanishing temporarily with a mischievous wink.

I know what they'll be doing tonight after the meeting. Even though we stepped down from being Weyrleaders, we're still included in Weyrleader meetings because of Elli's status as a former Earthling. That puts her in high regard among all Pernese. Tiffany has never led a Weyr before, but she is also a former Earthling, so she and her weyrmate F'rangle are also included in Weyrleader meetings.

"Let's go get Tiff and F'rangle and report to Benden," Elli says. "Today's tragedy must not be repeated!"


	3. Chapter 3 - Weapons

_**Chapter 3 – Weapons**_

Meeting of the Weyrleaders / Benden Weyr

Most of the time, we dragons sleep through boring meetings. But today, we're all wide awake and listening to what everybody's saying. We are all keenly aware of the empty spot on the ledge where Tiroth liked to curl up and sleep. It makes me want to cry again, but I know that'd distract the Weyrleaders, so I keep it to a mental sobbing. Elli is keenly aware of it, but she cannot go to me. She must stay at the meeting. Lessa wants revenge. She wants to flame D'lan down for what he did to D'ram and Tiroth. I don't think that's the answer. Dragons are not supposed to harm humans. I sincerely hope Denorth has my memory and refuses to flame anybody down again, but D'lan is clearly what the humans call a psychopath. He would stop at nothing to get revenge on Toric's killers, saving F'lar, Lessa, and G'narish for last. They were the best, and therefore should wait till last. It would be sweeter to him that way.

"We can't pit dragon against dragon!" Elli is saying passionately. "Despite his psychopathic tendencies, D'lan's still human, and therefore, he should be treated as such."

"Oh, come on, Elli!" G'narish cries in frustration, banging his fist on the table so hard I can see little drops of blood forming on his knuckles. "How many people are going to agree with him?"

"None," Elli confidently replies. "No rider from Benden is going to back him up. Benden is the only Weyr that survived the long Interval. Seriously, he isn't going to have any support, and he's definitely going to need support if he's going to launch a full-scale assault on any weyr. The only Weyr I can see supporting him is Ista, and that's only G'dened, because he's so hidebound. I don't see him condoning any actions D'lan might take."

"You bet your bloody shell I wouldn't!" G'dened shouts, Baranth bugling agreement from our ledge. "Just because I don't like the way life on Pern has turned does not mean that I would condone pitting dragon against dragon. I condemned it when the Oldtimers stole Ramoth's egg; I'm condemning it now!"

"What other course can we take?" Lessa demands. "We can't just slit his throat like a Holder."

"Pitting dragon against dragon would achieve the same ends, Lessa," Elli gently replies. "Only it would achieve those ends for innocent dragons and riders who did nothing to deserve it. You're talking about starting the first ever Pernese war. War is what my descendants were trying to escape. I don't know the full story about the Nathis, but apparently those aliens could destroy full planets with one weapon. That's something I could only imagine in role play. The real thing musta been even more horrible than my wildest nightmares! I tried looking it up on the AIVAS files, but I needed a security code, which, obviously, I don't have."

"Seeing as our ancestors had tried to forget the Nathi Wars, I bet it wouldn't be in the files, or it would be pass coded," Elli's father concluded.

He was invited to this meeting, not because he's a dragonrider, but because he is a former Earthling. Elli's Mom is there too, but she never speaks up during meetings, even though she likes Lessa and agrees with her for the most part, unless she is flaming mad like she is now.

"I understand you want revenge, Lessa," Elli says. "You plotted revenge on Fax for ten whole years. But to get the revenge you seek, we'd also have to kill a dragon. The dragon in question is clearly brainwashed. We all know that dragons mirror their riders. Denorth probably doesn't understand D'lan's quest. He just does what he's told. He's told we're bad people, more pernicious than Thread, so he goes after us. Unfortunately, D'ram was the first victim, and I strongly believe he will be the only one. D'lan won't find support from anyone else. There's nothing to worry about. He's done. Just exile him to one of those ring islands with the other Abominators. He won't be able to mate with anyone. That'll be punishment enough."

"He can go _between_, Elli," G'narish reminds her tenderly.

He places a shaking hand on hers. She immediately covers it with her other hand.

"We can't afford to get too complacent," he goes on. "What if he does find support?"

"He won't find it from Benden, that's for sure!" Elli retorts. "Everyone here is united with us. Benden is the champion of change."

_He wants to oust F'lar and become Weyrleader,_ I tell Elli in her mind. _I can hear his thoughts. I don't know how I can hear them, but I can, and I don't like it one bit!_

"Chlorith says she can hear his thoughts!" Elli says triumphantly. "She can be our spy. Can't you, Chlorith love?"

"A man who can speak to any dragon?" Lessa is so amazed that she forgets her anger. "I've never heard of that before. Only queen riders can speak to any dragon… myself, Brekke, Tiffany, Raeana, and Elli."

_I don't know who else can hear his thoughts,_ I say, _and I don't know if he can hear us or speak to us, but I know I can hear him, and I don't like what I hear at all. It scares me to death!_

_ It's worse than fighting Thread!_ I add. _ I enjoy fighting Thread because it is mindless, lacking any sort of sentience. But dragons are clearly sentient, and I, for one, do not wish to harm dragons or humans. Humans are far more sentient than dragons. Humans created us. We are evolving as natural beings would, but only because humans created us first. We are weapons — I am well aware of that — but only against Thread, not against each other. I refuse to participate if it comes to that. I will not harm a fellow dragon or human the way D'lan did today!_

"Holy shit!" Elli exclaims, so amazed by my speech that she forgets to keep her comment telepathic. "Did anyone else hear Chlorith's long-winded speech? She's right! Dragons are truly evolving!"

"You definitely have the smartest dragon on Pern, that's for sure!" Lessa chuckles, patting Elli's arm. To the others, she says, "I heard the whole thing, and Chlorith flat-out refuses to pit herself against another dragon or his rider, because though she actually acknowledges that dragons were designed to be weapons, she also distinguishes the difference between destroying Thread, which is their prime directive, and destroying people and dragons whom she's supposed to protect, not injure."

Peering past those gathered in the room to where the dragons are resting, Lessa whispers, "Ramoth couldn't do that."

_I can distinguish between Thread and sentient beings!_ Ramoth cries indignantly, bugling to emphasize her point.

"Yes, my golden love," Lessa says contritely "but you don't see yourself as a weapon."

_I don't chew firestone,_ Ramoth continues. _Chlorith says you barf up paste and bite your tongue until it bleeds._

_That's right,_ I chime in. _ Elli tried it on me when we were trying to figure out what to do about Danala. I bit my tongue, and I threw up paste. A queen does not have a second stomach, but she does still clutch. Why did Kitty Ping Yung program us not to be able to chew firestone? It would've come in very handy fighting Thread with a blind rider._

"Kitty Ping Yung was very gender-oriented," Elli says to me. "She was the most hidebound geneticist I've ever heard of! Though I didn't understand most of her files, I did understand that much. She didn't believe a woman should be doing a man's work. Sterilizing the greens makes sense, because all they clutch are smaller dragons that can't really be useful in fighting Thread. But queens are the brood mothers, and they produce the young while the men and the sterile females go out and do the grunt work. Her thinking is flawed. I feed Elizabeth and Marie-Antoinette little clumps of firestone every time we have Threadfall, and they fight it like little pros. And they still clutch! They definitely have second stomachs! Just goes to show you can be a mother as well as a grunt worker."

"Don't get any ideas, Elli," G'narish warns her. "You're carrying my children. I don't want to lose you or them. We're flying straight home!"

"Yessir!" Elli says sardonically, slumping back in her leather chair, resigned to being a mother for the next nine months.

_I rise soon, anyway_, I tell her. _Then I'll be egg-heavy for a few months, so I'll join you._

"You're more broody than Ramoth!" Elli laughs. "At least that'll keep you from fighting if it does come to that, which it won't."

"Elli, please speak mentally," her Dad whispers in her ear. "You're disrupting the meeting!"

"Oh, whoops!" Elli says. "I forgot."

"Before we were interrupted by my stepdaughter," her father says in a businesslike tone, "we were discussing going to war. I agree with her that this shouldn't happen, but I don't agree with her complacency. I think, even among the dragonriders, we have enemies. D'lan proved that today."

"But Dad," Elli argues, "all the dragonriders were in support of the mission that brought us here. He won't find support among them. He'd have to go to the commoners."

"If he can brainwash a dragon, he can brainwash anyone," her father scoffs. "Use your head, Elli. I think you're in denial. You're so naive!"

"Well, at least I'm thinking positively for once in my life!" Elli fires back at him.

She excuses herself and runs out of the room. She climbs up to our ledge, finds me, and puts her arms around me.

"I love you, Chlorith, my darling heart, my precious sweetie-pie, my beautiful brave warrior! At least you appreciate me."

_Everyone appreciates you and your accomplishments, Elli,_ I say to her. _You are the most wonderful person I've ever met. You are my rider, and nothing and no one can change that! Just because you don't see the full picture sometimes doesn't mean you're stupid. You're very intelligent. Hopefully you're right and nothing happens, but we cannot be too complacent. Lessa knows her riders. She knows what to watch for now after Tiroth ... after Tiroth ..."_

I cannot continue and explode into the dragon equivalent of tears. Elli dries her own tears with the palms of her hands and throws her arms around my head again. I know some of my grief is actually hers, but she cannot let it out in the normal way, so I do it for her. She remains strong, clears her throat, and sings a dragon song that tells of the tragedy of one dragon flaming another to death. I know just from the sound of the melody, that Elli has composed it herself.

"I wish I'd brought a tape recorder," she sighs ruefully, gazing into my slowly whirling eyes, "but I left it at the meeting. I'll never remember what I just sang."

"I'll remember," says a new voice. "I was writing as you were singing, and I brought you your tape player. It's still recording."

"Thanks, G'narish," Elli says weakly. "That wasn't my best singing, but I think it's my best song."

"Let's go back to the meeting, sweetie," he says, taking her arm and leading her off the ledge.

Elli shows no fear of falling off this time around. She clutches her tape recorder, rewinding the tape so that she can show everybody the song she composed. The refrain has even F'lar in tears. Her father beams with pride and appreciation. And G'narish hugs her again, also weeping.

"I think you beat Menolly out on this one," says Masterharper Sebell. "Did anyone write it down?"

G'narish produces a sheet of paper with the lyrics and notations on it.

"I didn't know you could write music!" Sebell exclaims, taken aback by this development.

"I once aspired to be a harper," G'narish admits, blushing slightly, "but I Impressed before I could get into the Harper Hall."

"Lemme hear you sing!" Elli begs.

"I will when we get home," G'narish promises, giving her a brief hug. "We could both sing and Chlorith and Gyarmath could dance."

_I'll never dance again_, I moan, the sadness returning. _Tiroth won't be there to see it._

"You loved him, didn't you?" Elli asks with dawning comprehension.

_I do,_ I tell her. _Just because someone dies doesn't mean you stop loving them._

"Did he love you back?" Elli asks.

_He did, but he never tried to fly me. He was too old. He could never have kept up with me. D'ram was in his 70s, and you were pushing 40, and he was still grieving for his Weyrwoman. He vowed to himself that he would never involve Tiroth in any more mating flights after she died. Therefore, we never consummated our love. We vowed to stay friends, instead._

"I didn't think dragons could do that!" Elli whispers, stunned by my admission. "I thought sex was a basic primal need with you, not an affectionate relationship thing. You really are evolving!"

"Do you love Gyarmath?" G'narish demanded.

_Yes, I do love my Weyrmate,_ I reply, _but not in the same way I love Tiroth. Every sexual relationship is different, just like every friendship is different. Gyarmath is more playful than Tiroth. He is more willing to dance, whereas Tiroth was more inclined to watch me. He was deeper than Gyarmath. He would have deep conversations with me, whereas Gyarmath would play with me. I can do both, you know._

_So can I_, Gyarmath puts in indignantly. _I just choose not to because I don't know as much as you do. I don't have your memory. You don't remember the fear of fighting Thread, but you do remember so much other stuff that I can't keep up with you. You lose me so easily, so I just play with you._

"You're an old-time dragon," Elli says, joining in the conversation. "Most dragons have not evolved to the intelligence of Chlorith and her clutch mates."

"Every dragon that Hatched after her seems to have the same talents as she does," G'narish remarked. "They're evolving past their programming. Let's just hope they don't start remembering the trauma of fighting Thread. I'm sorry, Elli, but I think you're wrong on one count. Chlorith is not going to forget Tiroth like all the other dragons will. She's going to remember him the rest of her life."

"Poor Chlori," Elli sighs, scratching my eye ridge. "She's going to experience death the way we humans do. That's going to be hard. I know some of her grief is borrowed from me, because I can't cry the way most humans can, but she does it all for me. She even says she weeps. Dragons obviously can't weep, but I say I see things when I really can't, so she's acting human yet again. She was mentally sobbing through the entire meeting."

"Let's go home, sweetheart." G'narish says.

With a final hug, he turns and mounts my weyrmate while Elli mounts me.


	4. Chapter 4 - Subliminal Danger

_**Chapter 4 – Subliminal Danger**_

I feel it again. The bronze rider is about to make his move, and I, a queen dragon, can do nothing about it. I knew he would strike again, but not when. For the first time in my life, I disagree with my rider. She thinks D'ram's death was an isolated incident and that we're all safe. I agreed with the Weyrleaders that D'ram's death wouldn't be the last. He is alone again; he doesn't have the support he needs yet. This time, he'll take on two dragons and riders at once. He flies straight south, so that Denorth has time to chew a large quantity of firestone. His targets did not go to Honshu Weyrhold when they stepped down; they went to find their own land.

There they were, diligently plowing their field they are cultivating for their new garden. They will live as the Ancients had lived, only with their dragons helping them with the plowing instead of runnerbeasts and burdenbeasts. They no longer fight Thread. They've fought enough Thread in both times to last them a lifetime. They were so complacent, so stupid!

I let out a warning bugle, but it's too little too late. Denorth belches a large quantity of flame that consumes the old Dragonriders instantly. The whole field catches on fire, and instead of putting the fire out, they go _between_ back to Benden Weyr.

I keen. I keen for the two former Weyrleaders who are no more — keen that I could do nothing to stop it, keen that my rider was so complacent. She is obviously in denial. She only wants to see the good in people. She even goes so far as to say that D'ram's death was probably an accident, totally ignoring all the warnings I give her. She did consent to use me as a spy, but ever since I've been given that role, she has ignored all the things I told her.

Tiffany did not ignore it. She passed all the warnings on to Benden, but they, too, could do nothing to stop D'lan and Denorth.

_Branth and Solth are no more_, I weep in anguish.

"Two at the same time?" Elli gasps, her tone incredulous. "That's impossible. They were together."

_This was no accident, Elli, and neither was D'ram's death,_ I cry. _This was murder. Branth and Solth undertook the mission to Earth to bring you back here. Therefore, they are guilty of association with abominations._

"I don't understand, Chlorith," Elli all but whines. "Why would he do it again?"

_He'll stop at nothing to destroy you. You ignored all the warnings I gave you. This could've been prevented._

"Chlori, I… I'm sorry!" Elli wept, totally contrite. "I'm sorry I didn't listen to you. I wanted so much for us to be safe from Abominators, and I flat out refused to believe a dragonrider could be one. Tiffany heeded all your warnings, and this still wasn't prevented. I know everyone's mad at me, but I didn't want to believe that we were no longer safe again. Toric is dead. We thought the Abominators were crushed! Why would a newly-Impressed rider choose to go against his own Weyr? It just doesn't make sense."

_We need to keep a closer eye on Nabol, as well_, I tell her, forgiving her instantly.

I can never stay mad at Elli for very long. If something doesn't make sense to her, she won't believe it until she understands the reasons for it.

_He's the eldest son of Lord Deckter,_ I say.

He was supposed to be the next Lord Holder until he was found on Search. Jaxom was lord of Ruatha and also had a dragon, so why couldn't other Lord Holders be dragonriders? S'lan would've been the link to Ruatha's Bloodline. He or F'lessan would've had more right to that Hold than Jaxom, but Lessa had forfeited that right when she abdicated her claim to baby Jaxom. I know all this from listening to my riders talk. There had been high hopes for D'lan, but he's dashing all of them to the four winds, as my rider would say.

Elli is weeping. I know it's because so many people and dragons will be mad at her for ignoring my warnings, but I'd like to think it was for the deaths of two former Weyrleaders of Pern. R'mart and Bedella weren't nearly as important as F'lar and Lessa, but they were the ones to keep Telgar Weyr together during Threadfalls. I know G'narish will mourn their deaths keenly, because they were the closest in age of all the Oldtimers who came forward. He'll be livid with Elli for not heeding my warnings. A rider is always supposed to listen to his or her dragon. She is so naïve. She has always been, but now is not the time for naivete. She has to be strong, get her head together, and take action, or she will lose her life and me. If she does not wish me to suicide, she has to stop denying what's going on. She has to heed my warnings as all riders are supposed to. I think the major reason why she's in denial is because she's overanxious. She's trying to delude herself into thinking it's okay so that she doesn't have a panic attack. By being convinced that it's all right, she will avoid her fears, just as she always does. This is really freaking her out, and I gather her into my forelegs and let her weep against my chest.

_Listen to me next time_, I tell her, rocking her gently as she has so often done for me. _I know you're afraid, but we'll sort this out if we can get enough support. Branth and Solth will not have died in vain._

"Are you sure they were flamed down by a dragon?" Elli appeals to me, hoping for some sort of reassurance, but, regretfully, I cannot give it to her.

_Yes, I'm sure_, I mutter, shivering at the recalled memories. _I felt their deaths. It was as though I was the one being flamed down like evil, insignificant Thread!_

"Does he even fight Thread?" Elli wonders, still weeping.

_Oh, yes, he fights it with a vengeance!_ I reply. _He doesn't want Thread to end. He loves fighting Thread. He's a lot like you, meaning that he's in denial about the end of Thread, as you were in denial about his intentions. He thinks if he destroys all of us, he can undo everything that we've done and revert the Red Star back to its previous orbit._

"That's insane!" Elli exclaims.

_It is definitely irrational_, I concede, _because it is how he thinks. If his logic were true, he would have to destroy the entire planet to undo the damage we have inflicted on it._

"He's starting out small," G'narish agrees when the ten of us talk it all over.

F'lessan and Tai were seen as Lord and Lady Holder, and their dragons were communing with us. Tiffany and F'rangle are here as our trusted friends and advisers. And, of course, their dragons wouldn't miss this if their lives depended on it. Now there's G'narish, Gyarmath, Elli, and myself, all conversing together before the big Weyrleaders' meeting.

"He's working himself up to the big boys," Tiffany says. "He's testing his limits, trying to see what he can get away with before we finally retaliate. I seriously think he wants to pit dragon against dragon, but he can't do that until he's got support."

"But how is he going to get it?" Elli demands again, her hand going to her rapidly growing belly. "No dragonrider is going to back him willingly."

"Ah, but you said the key word," G'narish quietly responds. "Willingly."

"How's he going to brainwash riders right under Lessa's nose?" Elli demands.

"He's already done it to his dragon," G'narish reminds her. "That's a tough thing to do at the best of times."

"So he's brainwashed his own dragon," Elli responds. "What makes you think he can brainwash the others?"

_He can speak to any dragon,_ I tell her, _an ability he'll use against us. If I can hear him, any dragon should be able to hear him_.

"Lessa can hear any dragon, as well," Elli argues. "Wouldn't she know if a dragon has been brainwashed?"

_He does it subliminally_, I respond. _It's all done subtly so that no one knows what's really going on._

"Isn't that an abomination trick," Elli asks, "using subliminal messages to brainwash others?"

_He's run out of ideas_, I reply.

"That's like using evil to fight evil," Elli mutters, shaking her head. "But I'm sorry to add that it might be more of an effective weapon than anything else the other Abominators might've used."

_If you can send subliminal messages to dragons,_ I explain, _you can send subliminal messages to anyone. Denorth's not that bright. He'd believe anything his rider would tell him, unlike some people._

I can't resist a dig at my own rider for ignoring my warnings.

"I'm sorry, Chlori," she apologizes for the umpteenth time. "I just don't want my babies to get hurt."

"Then do something about it; don't deny it!" G'narish snaps, pounding the table with his fist.

He is indeed taking the deaths of the two dragons and riders hard, and he believes that this could have been prevented if Elli had just heeded my warnings.

"I don't want to lose my babies!" Elli wails. "This is a high-risk pregnancy because of my age and the number of babies I'm carrying. Tiffany's carrying quadruplets; three boys and one girl. Don't you think we ought to be protected at a time like this? We can't fight for ourselves, and I haven't been feeling well lately. It's just a cold but I'm not in a very good mood."

"Well, your mood doesn't factor into this," G'narish snarls. "It's minutia."

"I'm well aware of that," Elli mumbles. "And I'm well aware that you're mad at me, but is this really the time for it?"

"This is exactly the time for it!" G'narish roars, pounding both fists on the table. "Because you didn't listen to your dragon, two deaths could've been prevented! You killed, two, important people!"

"As opposed to two unimportant people?" Tiffany demands, turning on G'narish.

_I knew he'd attack, G'narish,_ I tell him, _but not when. Even if Elli had heeded my warnings, we could not have prevented the deaths of Solth and Branth. Dragons have no concept of dates. Whenever he decides to put his plan into action, he just does it. He doesn't exactly give me a date and time._

G'narish deflates. He puts an arm around my weeping rider's shoulders.

"I'm sorry, Elli," he says, contritely. "I shouldn't have yelled at you."

"But what are we going to do?" Elli whines again. "First D'ram and Tiroth. Now R'mart, Branth, Bedela, and Solth. When will it end?"


	5. Chapter 5 - Not Her Fault

_**Chapter 5 – Not Her Fault**_

Another Weyrleaders' meeting

"I understand why you guys are pissed off at me," Elli addresses the other Weyrleaders and Weyrwomen gathered around the table, "but I just needed it to be okay. I'm already experiencing a high-risk pregnancy. I need to protect myself and my babies. All of this worrying might cause me to miscarry more effectively than a ride _between_. I can't lose these babies!"

"I understand your concern, Elli," Lessa angrily replies, "but that's no excuse for what you did. You killed two people and their dragons!"

_She did not flame them down, Lessa,_ I contradict her. _She just ignored my warnings. Tiffany heeded every single one of my warnings, and still we could do nothing._

"Chlorith's right, Lessa," G'narish says. "I blamed her for a few hours myself, until Chlorith reminded me that there was no date scheduled for the attack. D'lan did it on the spur of the moment, flying straight instead of going _between_ so that Denorth would have enough time to chew firestone and produce a respectable flame. Because of that attack, there's now a wildfire running unchecked on R'mart and Bedella's stake."

"Why is nobody doing anything about the fire?" Lessa explodes.

"We have no way of dousing it," G'narish mutters. "We haven't figured out how to hook up those hoses Fandarel sent us. They're supposed to be very useful for watering gardens and putting out fires."

"If Dad could walk, he'd help you hook them up," Elli says; "but you also need a waterline for it to hook up to."

"We do have indoor plumbing, you know," Lessa snarls. "We're not that backward!"

"I know that," Elli says gently, "but there's no hookups outside the Hold for hoses or sprinklers. All the pipes go through the walls. I don't know how you would hook it up to get it to the outside."

Lessa sighs, impotently. Once again, there's nothing we can do.

"That whole stake'll be ruined," moans F'lar.

"Not if it rains," Elli says brightly, trying to lighten the mood.

"Oh, Elli, enough!" shouts her dad. "You don't see the big picture. You should be exiled for this. You caused the deaths of two people with your ignorance! You shouldn't even be part of this meeting!"

"Don't be too hard on her," G'narish says softly, contradicting Elli's father for the first time ever.

"She ignored every warning given to her!" her father shouts. "If she had just listened to her dragon like she was supposed to, none of this would've happened!"

"Others heeded the warnings and this still happened!" Elli shouts, tears cascading down her crestfallen face. "This is not my fault!"

"You go, girl!" Tifany shouts. "You know it's not your fault, dude. You couldn't have done anything about it. D'lan didn't think of a date. How were you to know when he was going to do it even if you had listened to Chlorith like you were supposed to? You can only prevent something if you know when it's going to happen!"

"We could've put out sweep riders like Chlorith suggested," Elli says miserably.

"Well, now you learned your lesson, didn't you, twin?" asked Tiffany, giving Elli a comforting hug. "I suggest we put out a Pern-wide sweep and see what his activities are. He is of Benden. That means all Benden riders should be on the alert for anything odd. Chlorith, you keep spying on him for us. Elli, you listen to her warnings and act accordingly."

"Who died and made you queen?" Elli's Mom demands, speaking for the first time.

Elli knows she's joking, but Lessa doesn't, rounding angrily on the woman from Earth.

"You have a better suggestion?" she explodes.

"Lessa, Mom was kidding," Tiffany says, her hackles raised. "Whenever someone gets especially bossy, and they just happen to be female, that's what Mom says."

"I think she was surprised at Tiff's command of the situation," says Elli, trying once again to break the ice of anger with the warmth of compassion. "The thing is neither of us can do sweeps. We're pregnant."

"You can do sweeps," Lessa argues. "You just can't go _between_."

"Not if Chlorith decides to get it into her head to dance, and that activity will have to be curtailed."

"Chlorith will have to restrict her activities to mental spying because of the dancing," Lessa says.

I bugle indignantly. I love dancing! I remember I said I'd never dance again, but I am feeling better about Tiroth's death since Elli comforted me nonstop day and night. Tiroth would have wanted me to dance again. I realize that now and wish to follow his legacy. He always felt more energized after he danced with me.

"Your role is the most important one, dear heart," Elli says to me, patting me on the neck. "I will listen to you this time, and we'll be sequestered yet again. I think all the Weyrleaders should be sequestered so that he can't go after you again. And someone should put out the warning to M'rand and Pilgra."

"Why don't you do it yourself?" Dad demands.

"Um, Dad, I can't go _between_, remember?" Elli asks in a duh voice.

Elli's father says nothing. He probably thinks she's just making excuses for herself again.

G'narish must think the same way about Elli's father because he says gently, "Don't even think about aborting the babies for this! I won't have it!"

Elli smiles up at him.

"At least you support me again," she whispers in his ear. "I know the others will take some time, but that doesn't mean it doesn't hurt."

I croon encouragingly. Elli gets up and walks away toward my ledge. She curls up beside me and promptly falls asleep.


	6. Chapter 6 - Harper Hall Refuge

_**Chapter 6 – Harper Hall Refuge**_

"Nothing to report all day," F'lessan says to Elli. "We've been on recon duty all day, and we found nothing. Last night's driving rains did put out the fire though. That's a relief after three whole days."

"Chlorith's still convinced that he'll go after M'rand and Pilgra," Elli responds. "He's starting out small before he goes after the acting Weyrleaders."

"Then Honshu will be next," F'lessan concludes, his expression grim. "We've got to get everyone out of here."

"Where will we go?" Elli asks plaintively. "Tiffany and I are both pregnant, she with quadruplets, myself with triplets. We can't go _between_. We'd lose the babies!"

"Brekke suggests we actually remain bed-ridden throughout the duration of our pregnancies," Tiffany reports as she enters the room.

"We'll fly you straight," F'lessan says impatiently, "but we've got to get you out of here!"

"That'll be too long of a journey," Elli whines. "Chlorith will be exhausted carrying me and all my stuff."

_A dragon can carry what he thinks he can carry_, I remind her. _I'll carry you and the tapes. Others will carry your clothing and other accouterments._

I can tell Elli doesn't want to leave Honshu, but she has no choice. If D'lan decides to change his mind at the last second and go for Honshu, he will have achieved his ends. Meanwhile, more dragons are being infected by D'lan's subliminal messages… about the Schmenks, Swansons, Mennes, Cordies, and Webers being evil abominations… have spread throughout all eight fighting Weyrs. He has managed to recruit ten riders from each Weyr, and they're on the move. They're having counsel meetings via their dragons, so that there's no suspicious activity going on between the Weyrs. I give this information to Elli as we fly straight.

"This means no weyr is safe for us," she mutters, the news painful to hear. "The riders can report to each other and lay siege to the Weyr we're staying in. The queens won't be able to get away if there's a mating flight. This is terrible!"

_It is, isn't it?_ I agree.

"Tell the others what you've found out," Elli tells me. "Perhaps we can split up and volunteer to be watch dragons at holds."

_I am not leaving Gyarmath!_ I shout. _He is my weyrmate!_

"What other choice do we have?" Elli demands.

_We could go back in time,_ I suggest.

"Then how're we supposed to know when it's okay to come back?" Elli demands. "Use your brain, Chlorith! You have a very large one!"

_What else can we do?_ I argue, feeling like I'm under a lot of pressure. _It's up to me to keep Pern's safeguards safe themselves._

Then, I have the feeling - the same feeling I had when Branth and Solth were flamed down.

_He has done it again,_ I say slowly, anguish palpable in every syllable.

"Who now?" Elli groans.

_Segrith and Palomarth are no more!_ I keen though I am still flying aimlessly.

"We'll go to the Harper Hall," Elli finally decides. "Master Sebell should be apprised of what's going on. The only problem with that is where will all the dragons sleep? They don't have weyrs for you to use."

_I don't know,_ I say. _Sebell should know what's going on here. He needs to know that a dragon rider who is currently studying genetics at the Landing school is implementing subliminal messages into his and other dragons' original programming._

"What?!" Elli almost falls off my back as she attempts to jerk upright in her seat. Gripping the neck ridge in front of her for support, she demands, "How the hell is he doing this?"

_I don't know how he's doing it,_ I say, _only that he is. He injects a code into their necks. He has been working with the dolphins to implement a code into a vial of medicine using sonar._

"That makes no sense!"Elli cries. "How the hell do you inject a telepathic message into a vial of medicine?"

_I don't know,_ I reply. _The medicine makes them sleepy, and the recording plays in their minds while they sleep._

"Doesn't he know that's a myth?" Elli demands. "You really can't influence people using subliminal messages. I learned that in psychology class."

_They're wrong,_ I say pointedly. _It's working here, isn't it?_

Elli doesn't have an answer for that.

"There may be some credence to what Chlorith is saying," Masterharper Sebell replies in his quiet way. "Master Oldive reports that there are several vials of medicine missing from his hall."

"What kind of meds?" Elli asks, her hackles rising.

"Sleeping meds," Sebell informs her.

"Like fellis juice?" she persists.

"Stronger than that," Sebell responds, "strong enough to put out a dragon. He's been developing it for that purpose so that dragons can heal more quickly from Threadscore."

"So he now has ten riders from each of the eight fighting Weyrs involved?" asks Menolly.

Elli nods.

'Then no Weyr is safe for you now until this crisis is past," Menolly mutters, shaking her head.

"Got it in one," Elli replies dismally, "and I caused it by not listening to Chlorith's reports. I just wanted it to go away on its own because I'm two months pregnant with triplets."

"We have room for all the riders," Menolly explains, gesturing with her hands, "but I don't know where we're going to put all the dragons."

_We could sleep in those empty stables_, I suggest to Elli. _There are no beasts in there, and we can make wallows out of the dirt and sand that coats the floor._

I feel Elli pass on my suggestion to Menolly, and I felt her nod with approval.

"You can all stay here until further notice," she declares as everyone lands in the courtyard. "I want you all to take classes as though you were harper apprentices or journeymen."

"We're all too old to be apprentices," Elli says dubiously.

"You don't look a day older than 16," Menolly teases her, grinning from ear to ear.

"I'm 46," Elli reminds her. "You flatter me!"

"Dragonriders generally look younger than they are," Menolly explains, glancing about. "Linda can help in the kitchens like she used to, and Tom can oversee the new TV broadcaster's booth. We can't use cable, even though we hear satellite goes out when it rains or snows. We don't have the equipment to dig into the ground and insert those cable wires you talked about. Satellite's much easier, because we have the Yokohama's satellite in the South and Benelek's been working on new satellite relays in the North for both television and cell phone towers. The cell phone towers are now complete, but the television project has just gotten off the ground. We know radio was invented first, but we don't have the antennas, and Tom says TV's no longer use antennas."

"Antennas wouldn't be that hard to make," Elli's Dad responds. "There is satellite radio, too."

"There is?" Menolly's excitement is palpable.

"Come on, Chlorith, let's get settled."

Without the slightest clue where she's going, Elli starts out of the room.

"I'll get Silvina to help you unpack," Menolly calls after her. "Camo will carry your stuff to your rooms. Those tapes are too heavy for a gravid woman to carry by herself."


	7. Chapter 7 - Honshu In Ruins

_**Chapter 7 - Honshu In Ruins**_

I am excited. I am very hungry. I want raw meat right now! I fly to the stables and begin hunting down herdbeasts, runnnerbeasts, and wherries. Before I can bring down a big fat juicy wherry buck, Elli runs up to me.

"Chlorith, no!" she screams. "We're not in a proper Weyr! You can't rise now!"

_I rose at Honshu_, I protest. _That's not a proper Weyr, either._

"It's a Weyrhold," Elli argues. "Rollith has to get out of here, and Tiffany can't fly _between_! Where would they go? Nowhere is safe!"

_It'll be okay,_ I tell her impatiently. _Now just let me eat!_

"No, no, you have to blood your kills, Chlorith."

Elli bends me to her will and makes me suck all the juice out of the corpse, making it unpalatable. Growling at the needless waste of a perfect buck, I take flight again and bring down another buck, determined to eat it this time, but Elli's power is once again too strong. Snarling, I bring down a third and a fourth buck, each time Elli making me suck the blood out of the corpse, making them inedible. Then, sensuously calling out to any bronze who might hear me, I take flight, flying over the Harper Hall, not worrying about anything.

I saw G'narish take Elli to their borrowed quarters to await the outcome of the mating flight. I don't even worry about D'lan and his subliminal messages as I dance away from the first bronze who tries to catch me. He is no match for me. I dance in and out of the circle they formed to try to catch me. I dance over and under them. I do front and backflips to evade them. Then, seeing as I've completely lost them, I call enticingly again. Wouldn't any of those cowards try to catch me again?

Unexpectedly, Gyarmath dances around Golanth and catches my wingtip. I evade him again but he catches me, his neck entwining with mine, his wing covering my back as though we were humans. We plunge together to the ground, happy to be together, ready to mate.

_Weyrmates for life?_ I ask him.

_Weyrmates for life,_ he replies.

"What are we going to do about Chlorith's eggs?" Elli asks when the mating ecstasy is over. "Where did Tiffany go?"

"Back to Honshu," Menolly informs them. "Rollith took her _between_ because she would've been caught if she'd flown straight."

"Oh no!" Elli bursts into tears. "The babies! She lost the babies!"

"Probably," Menolly gently speaks, her own tears falling. "It was either lose the babies or lose her dragon and yours."

"I have to see her!"

"They're flying in now. They're landing."

Elli ran to Tiffany and took her in her arms.

"I'm so sorry!" Elli sobs. "This is all my fault. If Chlorith hadn't risen to mate, you wouldn't have lost the babies!"

"It's not that," Tiffany sobs hysterically. "Elli, they went after Honshu!"

"What?!" Elli gasps, terrified, shaken.

"When they saw we had escaped," Tiffany moans, unable to stop the tremors that shake her to her bones, "they burned the whole place down to the ground! They know we're not in any of the Weyrs because D'lan has recruited riders from every single one of them. We have nowhere to go! We're doomed!"

I have never heard Tiffany talk like this before, and neither has Elli, because she suddenly clouts her on the shoulder.

"Don't you dare say we're doomed ever again!" she screams at her twin. "Do you hear me? Don't ever say that again!"

"Elli you don't get it!" Tiffany sobs, despair welling up inside her. "We have nowhere to go. They've trapped us, and what are you going to do when Rollith rises?"

"I'll fly straight back to Igen and collect our daughters," Elli declares. "Raeana's an abomination, too, and Calentia's guilty by association with abominations. They're not safe at Igen Weyr. Our most pressing problem right now is where are they going to lay their eggs? The Harper Hall has no Hatching sands, and it's not safe for them to go to any of the Weyrs. They'll be recognized on the spot, and then there'll be major trouble. But I'm so sorry about the babies! My dragon rose to mate, so it's my fault."

"I think I'm still pregnant, twin," Tiffany says in amazement. "You'll have to risk your babies when Rollith rises to mate."

"You could just send her away without you," Elli says. "I wish I'd've done that."

Wiping the tears from her eyes, Elli shakes herself and commands, "I want you to go straight to Oldive and see if you're still pregnant. "Then we need to report to F'lessan. He's the one in charge of Honshu Weyrhold. He might want to fly by and see the damage himself. Do you think it can be rebuilt?"

"I don't know!" Tiffany cries in frustration. "I don't know anything about buildings!"

"We may have to have a masterbuilder or carpenter look at it," Elli says. "I don't know how much a carpenter can do with stone, but we can sure try to reconstruct the Weyrhold. I'll go report to F'lessan. You go see Oldive about those babies!"

Mercifully, Oldive confirms that Tiffany is still pregnant and orders her not to go _between_ for the rest of her pregnancy. Not only can she not go _between_, but she is also bedridden due to the extreme temperature change from the last trip _between_, possibly damaging the babies. He gives her an ultrasound and finds nothing wrong with them but notes that she is indeed having three girls and a boy. He goes on to say that the three girls are identical triplets, and that the boy came from a separate egg. Duh. I know enough about genes to know that a boy and a girl could not come from the same embryo. That would be like a bronze and a queen hatching out of the same shell. That just doesn't work! There is no way by the shard of my egg that that would be possible.

When Elli reports to F'lessan about the damage Tiffany had seen when she took Rollith back to Honshu, he demanded to see it for himself. A quick trip _between_ to the Weyrhold, or what remained of it, and he's back. F'lessan is in the worst mood I've ever seen on a non-psychopath. It even rivals Elli's father's moods when he is in excruciating pain and keeps dropping things and losing his balance. F'lessan picks up a cup and hurls it at the wall. Elli cowers as it whizzes past her head. He picks up another cup and gives it the same treatment, all the while swearing at the top of his lungs, angry tears spilling down his face.

"All my work!" he scream-sobs as he throws another cup. "All my hard work, ruined! Those swine are going to pay for this! Shards and Shells, are they ever going to get it! If Lessa could see the damage, she'd definitely pit dragon against dragon!"

"F'lessan, don't you see?" Elli says timidly, seizing his hand before another cup can fly. "That's what he wants. He wants Pern to embark on the first war it's ever had. Are you going to give him the satisfaction?"

"I'll flame D'lan down myself!" F'lessan screams, hurling another cup at the wall.

"You're going to have to clean that up, F'lessan," G'narish says mildly, coming into the room and treading on a piece of glass.

"I don't care!" F'lessan roars at G'narish. "I could give a flying shard what anyone thinks right now! All my hard work went into restoring that Weyrhold! That took me Turns! Turns!"

"Your rage, right now, is understandable," the Masterharper breaks in, treading on the most recent cup to suffer F'lessan's wrath, "but is that any reason to destroy our property?"

"Emotional transference," Elli says wisely. "It's a psychological term. People want others to hurt because they're hurting themselves."

"Like Lessa when Fax destroyed her family," Sebell surmises, nodding at the similarity. "But I didn't think F'lesssan had it in him. He's too happy-go-lucky. He's never serious about anything."

"He's serious now," Elli contradicts him. "He's flaming mad, and I don't want to be a part of it!"

She turns on her heel and heads to the old stables where we're being kept.

"Where are you, Chlori?" she calls out. "I need a cuddle."

I extend my foreclaw to nudge her leg. She lies down and curls up against me. I can sense her fatigue.

_You're going to get dirty lying there_, I say.

"I don't give a rat's ass." Elli grumbles. "I just need you right now. F'lessan's scaring me."

_Does he still blame you for this?_ I ask.

"I don't know," Elli mutters, shaking her head. "And I don't want to find out! I just want to curl up with an audiobook and sleep. My phone is in my room, but I don't want to go get it. I'd rather just stay with you."

Just then, two queen fire-lizards came arrowing into the stables, carrying something between them. As they land on Elli's shoulder, I realize they are carrying her phone.

"Thanks, guys," she says, stroking their heads. "Let's all curl up and sleep. We'll worry about the egg situation when it comes time for that. Perhaps then we can return to Honshu and rebuild it before you clutch."

I gather Elli into my foreclaws, and the fire-lizards curl up between my chest and her head. My lifemate turns on her favorite Scott Sigler Series and is instantly asleep.


	8. Chapter 8 - Telekinetic Intercept

_**Chapter 8 – Telekinetic Intercept**_

Elli's cold is getting worse. All she does is sneeze violently. She complains of awful headaches and refuses to eat. Oldive says her forehead is hot to the touch. If she has fire-head, she'll lose her children for sure! Oldive does the tests and, sure enough, it's fire-head. She has all the symptoms except the eye spots. Since she cannot see already, we don't have to worry about her going blind, but we do have to worry about insanity caused by awful chronic headaches. She must be kept isolated, put in what Oldive calls quarantine. If she has it, there's a very good chance that the rest of the inhabitants of Honshu have it as well, so the Masterhealer of Pern isolates all of them. F'lessan has started sneezing as well, and Ariana complains of headaches. In fact, she was the first one to start complaining of headaches, but she is chronically ill, so the humans didn't think much of it until my rider's diagnosis. Throughout her delirium, she begs to see me and insists that she's the one to blame for D'lan's treachery.

_I know, my dear rider, I know_, I keep telling her with every repetition of this claim. _No, no, it's not your fault. It is human nature to wish it would just go away. You have done no harm. I love you. I will always love you. Do not go where I cannot follow!_

Day by day, she slips away, and all I can do is keen for her. My keening is so loud and insistent that it disrupts the daily life of the Harper Hall, but I cannot help it. If she leaves me, I will go _between_. She mustn't leave me! I forbid it!

The Masterhealer sends for Sharra. She has more experience nursing the worst cases of fire-head than he does, and this is a very bad case. The moment she arrives, she shakes her head at the Masterhealer.

"If she'd've gotten treatment sooner, we might've been able to save her," Sharra sighs, her expression grim. "This is the 16th day of her fever, and it hasn't broken yet. I'll do what I can for her, but I doubt she'll survive."

"Chlorith?" Elli begs. "I need Chlorith. I want my dragon!"

I want my rider, but they won't bring her to me. I keen afresh that I cannot be there for her when she needs me most!

"She's crying," says Elli. "I can hear her."

"Dragons don't cry," Sharra says for the umpteenth time.

"She does," Elli argues. "It's like me saying I see something when I really can't. I talk like a sighted person because it's normal speech. She talks like a human because she has a human rider. Therefore, she is weeping."

The Lady Holder from Ruatha stares at Elli. It is the 20th day since her patient came down with fire-head, and Sharra had all but given up on her. She had given Elli the last dose of medicine she had in her pack. She had thought Elli was still delirious. She had begged for my cuddles and dancing often throughout her delirium along with the reassurances that she had not done anyone any harm in the matter with D'lan. In all the chaos with Elli and the twins being so gravely ill, I had completely forgotten to listen for D'lan. Now it would be my fault if he did something wrong, but no one would blame me but myself, as dragons can't think of anything but their riders when they're sick or injured. I am no exception to that rule.

"Please let me see my dragon!" Elli pleads, which only escalates my keening, because it breaks my heart to hear her beg like that. It is as though she depends on me for her survival.

"You can't walk that far yet," Sharra says, feeling Elli's forehead.

Suddenly, she gasps, her expression changing from worried to overjoyed!

"Your fever's broke!" Sharra says jubilantly. "She's too far away for you to see her yet, Elli, but now that you're communicating coherently again, you can reassure her that you're better."

"My head still hurts like crazy!" Elli complains, lying back down. Sighing reluctantly, she adds, "What I'd really like to do is go back to sleep, but I can't with that weeping. Plus, I've got to get her report. How long have I been sick?"

"Almost three sevendays," Sharra responds.

"What?!" Elli gasps, clearly disbelieving. "And he hasn't done anything since burning Honshu?"

"Apparently not," Sharra sighs, pulling up a chair to sit in. "They're looking all over Pern for you, but they obviously can't find you in any of the Weyrs."

I reach out to D'lan's mind and catch him sending a subliminal program to Mnementh. I intercept it and neatly dislodge it via telekinesis. I hadn't known dragons could manipulate such small objects before, but I had just done it. If I could just figure out the sequencing of the program, I could dislodge it from all the dragons D'lan's infected, including his own. How many dragons had he infected these past 20 days?

_Elli_, I gently call. _He's just tried to infect Mnementh. I intercepted the program and dislodged it. Telekinesis comes in very handy._

_How did you dislodge the program?_ she silently responds. _It's a telepathic message you told me._

_But that message comes from a computer program,_ I explain. _D'lane sends the image of the program to the dragon, then he adds words to it such as 'Elli is an abomination' or 'abominations are evil'; things like that. I can intercept messages before they get to the one who's supposed to receive it as long as I'm listening in. Dragons can hear anyone they choose to hear, but I don't choose to hear D'lan. I just hear him. However, your being so ill blocked him out for a long time. I don't know how many other dragons he's infected with that image."_

"Can you hear any dragon?" Elli asks.

_Yes, I can_, I reply.

"How can you tell if they've been infected?" Elli inquires.

_They're not themselves,_ I answer back. _They cannot focus on the conversation. They are distracted. They cannot safely fight Thread. They even look ill. Their color is very poor. They do not feed. They just walk or fly around, mumbling to themselves about evil abominations. I get the impression that the program itself was not created by the Ancients but by D'lan himself, or that the original program was hacked._

"You're a dragon!" Elli exclaims, clearly excited. "You are truly amazing, my love! If you know all this shit, you should be the one to delete it."

_I need to work on memorizing the sequence of the program so that I can delete it from the dragons' minds,_ I say, my own excitement growing. _He cannot implement the program directly into the riders' minds like he can the dragons', but the dragons' actions affect them so much, that they become infected by proxy._

_You're a genius!_ Elli shouts telepathically so as not to worsen her headache, but even that effort is enough to make her head pound. I can feel it through our link.

_Go back to sleep, sweetheart_, I say. _Ask for more fellis juice. Good night._

When Elli wakes later, Sharra has the ultrasound machine on her belly and is applying the gel.

"What are you doing?" Elli demands.

"An emergency ultrasound," Sharra calmly replies. "We need to make sure your children survived. I did one on Tiffany, too. She had fire-head, as well, but her case was much less severe than yours. She took ill after you did. Ariana is still holding on, but barely. Her fever breaks, but then it comes back worse than before. She has already gone blind because of the eye spots. It's only a matter of time before she goes mad with the pain in her head."

"Do something!" Elli screams, verging on panic. "Please do something!"

"Lie still, or you'll jostle the ultrasound!" Sharra commands. Then, more gently, her eyes misting over with tears, she adds, "We've done everything we can for her. We've given her medicine for fever, headaches, chills, ... you name it, she's had it. With her health already as poor as it was, she was bound to get it worse than anyone else."

"Who's with her?" Elli demands.

"G'narish," Sharra says in a quavering voice. "He hasn't left her side since she was diagnosed. He's been in a right state. He's been torn between you and Ariana for the past 20 days. The poor man can't function. He's refusing meals and he's crying constantly."

"I have to go see him," Elli sobs.

"You can't get out of bed, yet," Sharra argues. "I can bring him to you, but I doubt he'll leave Ari."

"I need to reassure him that we will be okay," Elli wails, feeling the onset of a panic attack.


	9. Chapter 9 - No Other Choice

_**Chapter 9 – No Other Choice**_

"If he's making his move, go!" Elli shouts aloud as well as telepathically, struggling to rise.

She tries to get out of bed but falls back, fast asleep. Sharra had given her a very strong dose of fellis juice.

I'm torn. Should I leave my rider and go after my quarry, or should I stay with her and leave the fighting to the others? Golanth takes off from the ground across from me. He is riderless. G'narish runs out of the hall, flying gear on back to front, and mounts Gyarmath. My mind is made up. I lift off from the ground, no plan in mind. I cannot flame down a dragon without a rider, as I cannot chew firestone.

I sense there is a battle going on at Benden Weyr. Lessa did not start the fight; D'lan did. He has charged into Benden Weyr, flaming at any and every dragon he could find. Denorth has gone completely beyond himself with the programming D'lan has implanted in his brain. Now I see that it is not a telepathic message embedded in the programming as I had first suspected, but a recording that plays over and over incessantly in the dragon's head until it drives him insane!

If I could just get to Denorth, but he's literally flaming mad. I see him flame another dragon into oblivion, and I spring into action. I reach inside him with my mind and dislodge the programming from his brain. The recording finally turns off. Denorth looks at me as though I'm his new weyrmate. After seeing him kill another dragon the way he just did, I would never let him so much as try to fly me!

"Denorth, what are you doing?" D'lan screams at his dragon! "We could really live in the MIDDLE Ages! There could really be evil dragons and princesses again!"

_So that's it!_ I cry triumphantly. _You don't really see us as abominations. You just want to reenact the Middle Ages on Earth! You know those were just legends, not really true stories._

"But we can make them true!" D'lan screams. "We can pit dragons against Holders and capture them for our Impressions and make them evil like us!"

_Not gonna happen!_ I bellow telepathically.

And with that bellow, I level myself with Denorth, who belches flame in self-defense. I dodge out of the way, but level myself with his neck. Remembering Karenth's tactic, I clamp my jaws down on Denorth's jugular vein and begin to suck the ichor out of him. Then I release him, appalled by what I have done.

D'lan screams, leveling a sword at me, but before he can strike, I lift my head up to the level of his neck and bite down on HIS jugular vein. He doesn't take as long as his dragon did to die.

All activity ceases. I spit human blood out of my mouth. I need to drink. I need to get that awful taste out of my mouth. I want to die in shame like Karenth and Carth. Not able to bear what I have done any longer, I jump _between_ back to the Harper Hall.

_Chlorith, what's wrong, my precious golden queen?_ Elli reaches her mind out to me, but I'm in no fit state to accept any accolades.

_I killed them!_ I weep. _I killed them!_

_What's going on?_ Elli demands. _What happened?_

_Denorth… he started flaming every dragon at Benden_, Gyarmath responds, filling in the tale for me. _We had to fight back. Every dragon on Pern was there, fighting the rebels. Many of them died today of phosphine burns and agenothree spray. They had two queens on their side. I don't know what Chlorith did, but it stopped the fight. G'narish is hurt. He needs a healer._

_Put him in with me,_ Elli says. _I'm on the mend. The worst is over._

_He… he… he w-w-wanted things to be like the Medieval legends of Earth,_ I sob. _He wanted dragons to be evil! He wanted to destroy P-P-Pern!_

_And, of course, you couldn't let that happen,_ Elli tries to console me, _so you did something about it. You couldn't have done anything less, Chlori. You're my heroine. You saved all of Pern today! There'll be songs sung about you all throughout Pern, Chlorith, dancing queen of Pern!_

_I'll never d-d-dance again!_ I wail.

_You always say that when you're upset_, Elli laughs.

_I mean it this time_, I say. _I'll never dance again!_

"Sharra, I gotta go," I hear Elli say. "I have to comfort my dragon. She's totally distraught."

"And she's broadcasting it so that even those who can't hear dragons can hear her," Sharra informs her. "I'll support you to the window. Then you need to eat."

"I can't eat with her so distraught!" Elli moans. "She's ashamed of what she's done. She bit him to death, just like Karenth did."

Elli turns, walks unsteadily to the door, grabs her cane, and makes her way to the stables. She falls on top of me, throwing her arms around me.

"Oh, my darling!" she cries, holding my head in her arms. "You had no choice. You had to do it. D'lan was deranged. He should never have been able to Impress a dragon. How Denorth didn't see it in him is beyond my comprehension. I assume he was bored with the end of the Pass coming so soon. He was a young rider."

All I can do is keen in response.

"Perhaps an audiobook will get it out of your head for awhile," Elli says, helplessly. "Let's read one from the AIVAS files. I'm getting sick of mine. What sounds good to you?"

I let out another keen.

"My voice is still hoarse from the fire-head, sweetheart," she quietly tell me, feeling more helpless than ever. "I can't sing right now."

_Just hold me for now,_ I say miserably. _All I need is some TLC._

"Then I will give it to you," Elli says gently. "I'll hold you and rock you until you're better."

She stands unsteadily, taking my head in her arms and starting a shaky two step, intoning, "1, 2, 3, 4," incessantly until my keens subside and I fall asleep in her arms.

When I awaken, she is gone. Somebody has carried her back to her room in the Harper Hall. At least I have her staunch support. She does not, and never will, condemn me for what I have done. She will prosper, and I will prosper. Now to check on Ariana. She is still alive after all this.


	10. Chapter 10 - Glimpse Of The Future

_**Chapter 10 – Glimpse Of The Future**_

I am sad… no, depressed. I cannot do anything. My color isn't good, but I refuse to eat. Elli's getting better daily, but she keeps complaining of hunger. They think it's because of her pregnancy, but I know better. I am starving, but I do not deserve to eat. I killed another dragon, and, not only did I kill a dragon, I killed his rider too.

_You did the right thing, twin_, Rollith reassures me constantly, but I still don't feel as though I did.

"The true victory is not in the win," Elli tells me on the fifth day, "but in knowing you did the right thing. You had no other way to bring an end to the madness, my queen. You had to act, even though you're pretty egg heavy yourself."

Hoping to change the subject, my rider asks, "Where are you going to lay your eggs? All four queens are egg heavy, and Raeana and Calentia are both pregnant, so they can't go _between_ back to Igen. N'ton, stars bless him, has agreed to let all four dragons clutch at Fort Weyr this time. They all mated a day apart. We're going to have one hell of a Hatching!" Then, her brow furrowing, she wonders, "Will there be enough room on the Hatching grounds for four clutches?"

"I believe so," N'ton replies with a wink. "When the first dragons clutched, they probably did it all together. They all Hatched simultaneously, so they probably mated at the same time as well."

"We'll fly straight to Fort Weyr, then," Elli decides. "It's not that long a distance away, and we can all fly straight there. How did you know that the girls were pregnant?"

"Dolphins," N'ton chuckles. "I've made it common practice for female riders to go to the dolphins two weeks after a mating flight to make sure they won't abort an unknown pregnancy by going _between_."

"How did they even get here without D'lan noticing?" Elli wonders.

"With smoke and mirrors," Calentia replies, walking into the room. "I think you ought to go see Ari. She keeps begging for her mommy. Says she has to tell you something. I think she's delirious, but you never know with her. Her fever's broken and come back so many times it's not even funny."

Concerned about the girl's condition, Elli walks unsteadily to Ariana's room next door. G'narish is sitting in a chair beside the bed, his face in his hands, but even though I'm outside, I can see the tears running between his fingers. Sharra draws up another chair on the opposite side of the bed for Elli. My rider drops into it and gropes for her daughter's hand.

"I'm here, Ari," she says gently. "I'm sorry I wasn't here before, but I'm here now."

"Mommy, can dragons hatch twins?"

The question is so unexpected that it takes all of us aback.

"I… I'm not sure, sweetie," Elli says finally. "What gave you that idea?"

"Dreams," Ariana replies. "I dreamt all four queens clutched twins."

"There're many dragons that Hatch in one day, sweetie."

"But the queen and bronze eggs are gonna split," the girl persists.

"How do you know about all this?" Elli softly begs, her tone incredulous.

"Daddy reads me the AIVAS files."

I can tell from Elli's inward response that she never thought that hidebound G'narish would read his daughter anything out of the AIVAS files. Though he had never openly opposed AIVAS, he had been quietly skeptical of the whole process of change that Pern is now undergoing.

"I asked how we were twins, and he read me the file," Ariana explains. "I may be blind now, but I see things that will happen. Chlorith and Miroirth will hatch twin queens, and Rollith and Zareth will clutch twin bronzes. The twins will mate and clutch more twins. It's in our pants."

"It's in our pants?" Elli asks, puzzled by the expression.

"Yes, the pants we wear tell us who we are. Our pants carry DNA."

It was all my rider could do to contain her sudden mirth when she finally made the word connection.

"Oh, genes!" Elli cries, trying not to laugh.

G'narish, unseen by either female, has the biggest ever grin on his face!

"We're young yet, but we'll Impress the twins," Ariana says confidentially. "If a dragon can choose someone who's too old to Impress, they can choose someone who's too young."

"I don't think it works that way, sweetie," Elli says smiling.

At least Ari's lucid—as lucid as any six-year-old can be. But I find myself wondering if there's any credence to what she's saying. Can dragon eggs split down the middle and create two separate embryos?

"Actually, Rollith will clutch twin queens and Miroirth will clutch twin bronzes," Ariana says sleepily.

Elli and G'narish squeeze her hands as they leave. G'narish turns into Elli's arms and weeps once they're safely out the door.

"Baby, she's getting better," Elli says softly. "She's just daydreaming."

"That fever has addled her brains," G'narish weeps, still a bit distraught. "How can a six-year-old Impress a dragon? Ari would never be able to take care of her lifemate. Plus, she'd be nine years old when the dragon rises. It's absurd!"

_The dragon chooses the rider, G'narish,_ Gyarmath reassures him. _It'll all work out. You'll see. Just wait till the Hatching. Then you'll find out whether she's right or wrong._

As Ari's parents head back to their own weyr, my rider quietly recalls something she once heard about. Precognition, one of the so-called Esper talents. Also called prescience, future vision, or future sight, it is the supposed psychic ability for one to see events in the future. The humans on Pern had manifested the talent of telepathy allowing them to communicate with their dragons. We dragons had manifested not only telepathy but also telekinesis, another of the purported talents. Could this child have somehow been gifted with the ability to see the future? I am curious to find out!

"_**Just because the past**_

_**didn't turn out like you wanted it to**_

_**doesn't mean the future can't be better**_

_**than you ever imagined!"**_

― Ziad K. Abdelnour

****** The End ******


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